Superhydrophobic Photocatalytic Self-Cleaning Nanocellulose-Based Strain Sensor for Full-Range Human Motion Monitoring

Nanocellulose-based strain sensor (NBSS) have been a subject of growing interest for wearable electronics. However, these electronic devices are susceptible to damage when they come into contact with water and organic contaminants. Recently, researchers have developed a superhydrophobic NBSS. Unfortunately, it does not treat organic pollutants in water when used in an underwater environment. In this paper, a new solution: a superhydrophobic photocatalytic self-cleaning NBSS created through scrape coating and dip coating methods is proposed. This new method shows outstanding self-cleaning capabilities against water and organic contaminants due to the synergistic effects of the superhydrophobicity and photocatalysis of MnO 2 nanoparticles. Furthermore, the superhydrophobic photocatalytic self-cleaning NBSS has an exceptional response time of 0.66 s, a fast recovery time of 0.81 s, a sensitivity ≈66.53 at a strain of 0.5%. It is expect that the superhydrophobic photocatalytic self-cleaning NBSS can monitor human movements, including finger twists, wrist movements, elbow bends, and knee movements. Not only is the fabrication method cost-effective and scalable, but the new NBSS holds great promise in a wide range of fields, including human-machine interactive systems, smart systems, and human-body monitoring. Overall, the study provides significant guidance for future designs for wearable strain sensors.